


fruend

by erenjägers (avatarstates)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Eren Yeager, Childhood, Comedy, Cute Eren Yeager, Eren Yeager Is a Ray of Sunshine, Fluff, Gen, German Eren Yeager, Grumpy Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Humor, Imaginary Friends, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Swears, Levi-centric (Shingeki no Kyojin), Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Sassy Eren Yeager, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-05-09 19:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatarstates/pseuds/erenj%C3%A4gers
Summary: "Mr Levi! Play with me!""Quit bothering me, brat."Being assigned to be a child's imaginary friend was not how Levi imagined making up for his lack of goodness in the afterlife.





	1. null

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!
> 
> i'd like to take this opportunity to mention a few things before you proceed with the story. 
> 
> 1\. the story idea is not mine. it has been kindly provided by writing-prompt-s in [their post](https://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/post/173732165989/unless-you-were-good-enough-to-go-to-heaven-or-bad) from their tumblr blog.
> 
> 2\. dialogues that are completely italicized will imply that it is not spoken in the jäger family's native tongue, which is german.
> 
> thank you for choosing to read this fic and i do hope you will enjoy this!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> levi isn't good enough for heaven and isn't bad enough for hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a big shoutout to my friend, nadi, who was there to witness and help me marinate and cook up this idea!

"So," began the angel who was across Levi at the desk he was seated, "you are Levi Ackerman, correct?"

Levi exhaled, his perpetual scowl growing all the more obvious as he regarded the entity impatiently. They weren't like any deceased person could fool higher beings nor impersonate another person, living or dead. Besides, Death made no mistakes when she came to reap souls, so either the management had internal trust issues or they wanted to mimic how humans ran things down there on earth. " _Correct_ ," Levi answered, clipping off every syllable.

It irritated Levi how the angel seemed to resemble Erwin Smith, who was Levi's superior at the company he used to work at, right down to those ugly eyebrows. Surely, God had a better taste than to grant seraphs this kind of atrocity. Fixating their blue eyes on the sheet of paper in their hands to the scowling man, the Erwin-like angel's eyebrows furrowed before it said, "According to your papers, Levi, you have not been a very good person during your time on Earth."

"Debatable," Levi responded. At least he didn't claim to be saint-like when he was alive, but still, why was there such a vague statement of the type of person he was?

"And," the angel went on robotically as though Levi hadn't said anything, "you have not been a very bad person either."

"That statement is debatable as well."

"You will not ascend to the ranks of Heaven, nor will you descend to the depths of Hell," stated the angel. Levi had no problem with that, really. The whole Heaven-Hell thing was overrated, in his opinion, so being somewhere in between didn't worry him that much.

"So, is it purgatory for me?" Levi ventured, curious yet skeptical. He might as well have asked whether he'd remain in limbo, because that corresponded closer to the beliefs he'd been brought up with but that seemed like a very bleak way of spending eternity to him. Even if he hated people sometimes, the thought of being completely isolated, absolutely free of any sort of contact, was awful.

The angel stared at Levi blankly. "No. The sentence of purgatory has been discontinued." The angel paused as though to allow that information settle in Levi's brain. "Instead, you will be sentenced … to _companionship_." The angel paused again, although this time Levi was certain it must've stopped halfway through its sentence.

Levi tsked in annoyance, scowling. Angel or not, anyone who didn't finish their sentences on purpose were as annoying to Levi as anything dirty. "Companionship of what, exactly?" He didn't care that there was no patience in his tone and he was practically snapping his words.

"You shall be accompanying a child to make up for your shortcomings," the angel explained calmly. Levi disliked children. Sure, they were cute, but they were bratty, annoying and noisy as hell. They also had zero respect for their elders and got away with many things by acting cute or shedding tears. To be handed this sentence was probably the closest thing to Hell besides having to clear paperwork on weekends. Levi wanted out, but it wasn't like he had any say in this matter.

"As what? A guardian angel?" Levi scoffed.

"No. As an imaginary friend."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"No. You will remain as the child's imaginary friend, until they grow out of you."

"Oh." Levi would be lying if he said he wasn't currently hoping he'd get assigned to some kid with memory issues or one who was almost the age of forgetting about imaginary friends. That ought to make his sentence shorter and more bearable. "Right, okay," Levi said, leaning back in his chair. "Who's the brat I have to play with?"

"All the information you require is in here." The angel brought out a file that had been pulled out from somewhere under the table and passed it to Levi across the table. Though unassuming in appearance, Levi was mildly surprised to find it weighed more than he had estimated. He flipped its cover open and glanced at the contents. There were several sections, named and marked by an obscene amount of page markers. The crease between Levi's brows deepened as he flicked through the pages, appalled to find that he had much to read. He was certain he'd not give a flying fuck for ninety-nine percent of the document.

"Why do imaginary friends need this insane amount of shit to read?" Levi demanded. The angel didn't respond, instead stared blankly at Levi the same way Erwin Smith would. Exhaling in exasperation, Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezed his eyes shut, and counted to ten. "When do I start being this kid's plaything?" he asked.

"Please read the section regarding the child you will be accompanying before you proceed."

"I can read it on the way down," Levi said. "Now, answer my question."

"Please read the section regarding the child you will be accompanying before you proceed," the angel repeated.

Levi was tempted to boot the angel across the face – he doubted it'd mind much, considering how robotic their demeanor already was – but in the end he decided to humor the angel. It wasn't like he was on borrowed time. "Fine, Bushy Brows. I'll read the section regarding the child I will be accompanying before I proceed." The last sentence was spoken with spite, which the angel took no heed off. Flipping to the aforementioned page, Levi read it aloud. "Name: Eren Jäger. Date of Birth: 30th March. Age: 5. Address: No 16 –"

"Please read it silently." If anything, Levi wasn't the slightest bit annoyed he was told off by the angel. In fact, he was pleased he managed to evoke a reaction out of it.

Levi rolled his eyes but did as he was told anyway. This time, he paid attention to the child's details, reading from top to bottom without skipping so much as a word. Once he had read the whole thing, his eyes drifted to the photograph of the child.

Eren Jäger. Large teal-green eyes, a rounded yet longish face, framed by short and dark brown hair with an olive skin tone. He looked like the type of kid who could get away with stealing candy from a store by crying or acting innocent. Levi instantly didn't like him. "So this is the brat, huh?" he mused aloud.

"Please refrain from calling the child 'brat.'"

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat." Levi waved his hand irritably. "I'm done reading what I need to read. I'll cover the rest on the way down, I swear," he added for good measure when it looked like the angel was tell him what to do again. Levi had to deal with doing as Erwin said when he was alive, he was definitely not going to let a lookalike do the same in the afterlife. The two rose from their chairs and proceeded towards the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments are always appreciated so feel free to leave some! i'll do my best to reply to everyone :)  
> thank you so much for reading and i hope you'll have a lovely day!
> 
> [[ twitter ]](https://twitter.com/erenjagers)


	2. eins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the jägers move into their new home and eren has to adjust to his new surroundings. he also has difficulty socializing with other kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be some german terms used in this chapter. translations to those terms will be provided at the end of the chapter.

The little boy has been sitting in the backseat for about an hour now. All the excitement he had contained within his tiny being since they left the airport had soured into impatience and restlessness. But he knew better than to complain, better to stay silent. His parents seemed tired from the flight though he could tell they were trying their best not to show it. The little boy didn't know when they'd arrive at their new home in this foreign land but he dared not to ask yet. He would, if he and his family were the only ones in the car.

The man, Papa's new colleague, was a chatty fellow. While the little boy appreciated that the sound of the man's voice kept him awake, he didn't understand a word of that language. But Papa seemed to, though the way he spoke was slightly different to the way the man spoke.

A gentle caress on the top of the little boy's head brought his attention to his mother, Carla, sitting beside him. "Eren, are you tired?" she asked.

The little boy shook his head, even though he was exhausted from their flight earlier. "What about you, Mama?"

"A little."

"Papa? What about you?"

Eren's father, Grisha, offered a gentle smile. "I'm fine, Mäuschen."

As far as Eren knew, the weariness in his parents' voices was unmistakable. He hoped they'd reach their destination as soon as possible so that Mama and Papa could get some rest. Minutes leaked by, the silence in the car occasionally broken by brief conversations between Grisha and his colleague. Eren dozed off a few times, waking up each time with a start. When he woke up for the fifth time, the car had came to a stop.

At first he didn't stir, only fluttering his eyes open before closing them when he felt gentle taps on his shoulder. "Eren, we're here," said his mother's voice.

Eren sat up at once, eyes flying open. An excited grin had appeared on his lips, brightening his expression. "Really? Yay!" His hands struggled to unbuckle the seatbelt when his mother moved in to help. Once he was free of it, he practically sprang out of the car to lay his eyes on his new home.

During the flight here from Germany, Eren had wondered what it'd look like. His mind had conjured many images, ranging from a castle to a cottage in the middle of the woods. But the image that had become his expectation was a home close enough to his own back in Germany. The house should have two stories, a yard where he could play in and a bathroom that came with a tub so he could pretend to be a sea monster. His bedroom should also come with glow-in-the-dark-stars pasted on his ceiling – he didn't have that back then but Papa had promised he'd have it done for Eren. Besides the appearance of the home, Eren also hoped he could make as many friends here as he did in Germany.

However, upon laying his eyes on the multi-storied apartment complex before him, Eren's eager steps faltered until he came to a stop. A tiny frown creased his brow as he regarded the edifice. The first thing he noticed about it was the number of windows. How could it fit so many and how were they all perfectly aligned according to the floors? There were balconies as well, some of which came with drying racks while others were decorated with hanging houseplants. The balcony he had back in his old home only had a lounge chair and a short table where Papa liked to relax on the weekends to read the papers. The laundry was supposed to be hung outside in the backyard. A sudden thought occured to Eren, _Did these buildings have their own backyards?_

"Papa?" He walked back to the car where his parents were taking their luggage out of the boot. "Is this our new home?" he asked.

"Yes it is, Eren," answered Grisha, ruffling his son's hair.

" _Your son is adorable_ ," commented Grisha's colleague who was smiling at Eren. Eren couldn't tell what it was he said but promptly flushed and moved to cling to his mother's skirts.

"Say 'Thank you'," prompted Carla gently, "Papa's friend said something nice about you."

"T-thank you," Eren squeaked before clutching his mother's skirt tighter. From the corner of his eye he saw Grisha's colleague laugh and exchange some more words with Grisha. Now that the man's attention was no longer on him, Eren turned to look at the apartment complex once more. The longer he stared at the buildings the more overwhelmed he felt by how tall they were. "Mama, why are the buildings so big?" he asked, tugging his mother's hand.

"That's because there are many people living here," Carla explained. "So to make more space for everyone, the buildings have to be tall."

"Oh." Eren looked down at his shoes, suddenly aware of how small he was compared to the buildings. Just as he was about to a question about whether there'd be any backyards where he could play in, his parents proceeded towards the closest building. Eren was told to sit patiently in the lobby, beside a potted plant that was taller than he was, while his parents talked to the people at the front desk. He watched them for a few moments then turned his attention to the plant. Under normal circumstances, being told to wait would result in Eren getting impatient and fidgety within a minute or so. However this time, all he felt was the tight feeling of apprehension in his chest.

To distract himself, he pulled off a leaf from the plant beside him. He rolled it in between his fingertips, pressing hard, until they became unrecognizable bits of green before repeating the procedure once more. He would've preferred to play with Collie, his plushie Titan, except it was stored in Mama's luggage and he had no way of opening it. Now, he regretted wanting to prove that he was a 'big boy' capable of going without his favorite toy. His fingers were now icky from crushing the leaves.

"Eren."

Eren's head shot up to find his parents beckoning him over. Relieved, he slid out of the chair he was seated on and dashed towards them. Linking his tiny hand in his father's, he and his parents walked away from the reception area to a short corridor where the elevators were located. "It smells a bit like feet here," Eren commented, wrinkling his nose, when they entered one of the elevators.

"Somebody must've forgotten to wash their socks," said Grisha as he pressed one of the buttons on the panel to their left. Eren laughed. The elevator ascended, taking a few seconds of their time before it dinged pleasantly and opened its doors. The moment the Jäger family stepped out of the elevator, Eren's gaze fell upon the long corridor to his right, with doors arranged on either sides of it.

"W-which one's ours?" he asked, wide-eyed, as they walked down the hallway. He kept looking to his left and right; he knew Mama had said there were many people living here but how could they tell?

"This one, Mäuschen," said Grisha when they came to a stop at one of the doors. Eren stared at it, wondering what made it any different from the ones they had passed by. It looked the same to him t was brown, had a peephole, a doorknob and a plaque. Perhaps there was something about it that only Papa and Mama could see, Eren thought. He hoped they'd tell him soon.

Once the door was unlocked and opened, Eren peered inside curiously. To his disappointment, it looked way smaller than his home in Germany although it had a faint smell to it that he associated with newness. The floors were made of laminated wood, which shone as thought it had been polished not long before they arrived. As the Jägers entered their new home, Eren decided to have a look around.

In the foyer to Eren's left was an empty room which mysterious only had a sink in it—a utility room where the laundry would be done, Grisha explained when Eren asked. To Eren's right was another empty room. Past the foyer was the living/dining area with an open kitchen. There was a balcony but when Eren tried to approach it, Carla herded him away from it. "Why don't you take a look at your new bedroom?"

"Okay," said Eren. The apartment came with two bedrooms, one of which was smaller than the other. The bedrooms were undecorated although they already came with wall closets, bedframes and air-conditioning units of their own. There was a storage closet past the smaller bedroom. It was dark when Eren opened its door to see inside; he shuddered, thinking about what could hide there at night before closing its door. At the end of the hallway was a bathroom, which had no bathtub, to Eren's disappointment.

"Mama, where can I play sea monster?" Eren asked with a pout when he found his parents putting their luggage in the bigger bedroom. "There's no tub."

"I'm sorry, Süßer," apologized his mother as she walked up to him. "We could always go to the pool instead," she suggested.

Eren's lower lip trembled but he pressed them together and looked away. "Okay," he whispered.

"Here, Mäuschen. I believe this is yours." Eren looked up to see Grisha holding out Collie. The little boy's features lit up as he reached for Collie.

"Collie!" Eren clutched his plushie to his chest, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you, Papa!"

"Now, why don't we check out your new room? We can think about how you want to decorate it."

"Yes, please!" Eren exclaimed excitedly. "I want glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling."

 

* * *

 

The day came to an end in the blink of an eye. They had done some unpacking of their belongings, did a bit of grocery shopping and cleaned the apartment. For the first time Eren found himself eager for bed. After being tucked in and kissed goodnight by both his parents, he fell asleep quickly. The next day was just as busy, this time his parents wanted to look for home appliances. Usually, Eren would grow impatient if shopping trips took too long but since they were in a different country and there were so many things to see, he didn't mind at all.

They visited a furniture store called IKEA, according to Grisha. Eren was amazed by the size of the building as well of the things they sold there. The first thing he got excited about was the free pencils. "They're so short!" he said, marveling at the one he managed to get.

"Stay close to Mama and Papa, Eren," reminded Carla when Eren started walking ahead of them because he wanted to have a look at one of the displays.

"Okay, Mama." Giving the display one last glance, he dashed back to join his parents.

There were many sections in the store, apparently, each one as fascinating as the last. In the kitchen section, Eren inspected the colorful bakeware. In the bedroom section, he checked every bed by flopping onto the mattress before Grisha told him, "Behave, Mäuschen. We're in public." The bathroom section was cool too, with all those hook-and-suction cups that came in different colors and soft fluffy towels Eren wanted right away when he touched them. However, the highlight of the store was the children's section.

The moment the Jäger family entered there, Eren's eyes had widened with awe. "Ooh!" he exclaimed before approaching towards one of the displays. "Papa, they have toys!" He turned to his father.

"Yes, they do." Grisha held his hand and began to lead him away. "But we're here to look for things to decorate your room, remember?"

"Oh yeah! I want something that looks like it's from space. O-or robots," Eren said.

"We'll see if they have any of those."

Once they were done with shopping—his parents didn't get all the furniture they wanted but they said they'd come back after they did some 'grown-up' thinking—they headed home. As they didn't have a car of their own just yet, they had to ride a bus, which was the best experience Eren had so far. He claimed the seat by the window in the row the Jägers occupied and stared out with wide curious eyes. Things were so different here yet there were were similarities this new place shared with Germany. There were cars, people, trees, and even some stray animals. "Mama, can we have a pet?" he asked after spotting a pedestrian cross the road with her poodle.

"What kind of pet?" Carla asked, too weary from today's trip to say anything else.

"Ah, well … I think a dog would be nice. Or a cat. Or a bunny."

"Something furry and cute, then?"

"Ja." Eren continued to look out the window, hands pressed to the glass. He was humming a tune he made up, swinging his legs since they were too short to reach the floor. They reached home not too long after, rested for a bit before heading out once more. They did more shopping then came home after that, exhausted from today's trip.

The Jägers took a few days to get everything in order. Eren's room didn't look as bare as it had the day they moved in; now he had those cool robot bedsheets and duvet covers, an animal rug, and a dresser. The utility room now had a washing machine and a dryer. The kitchen had basic appliances and utensils. The empty room was now called a study. The only thing Eren was a bit disappointed with was that there was no tv in the living area. "Papa and I will settle that later," explained Carla when Eren asked about it at dinner, "there's still a lot of things we haven't sorted out yet." Eren didn't understand what she meant by that since everything looked fine in the apartment.

What was there to sort out, anyway?

"Papa, when are you going to work?" asked Eren on the fifth night since moving in.

Grisha shut the storybook he had read to Eren earlier. "Ah, tomorrow, I believe."

"At the hospital?"

"Ja."

"Where's the hospital?"

"It's in the city," Grisha told Eren. He reached out and smoothed his hand over his son's hair with a fond look in his eyes. "It's a bit far from home."

Eren pressed his lips together. Back in Germany, Grisha's workplace had been far from home too so he often came home late. Eren wondered whether it'd be the same this time. He hoped not. He wanted Papa to come home earlier so they could play and cuddle. "Will you be home late everyday?" Eren ventured.

Grisha could only smile. It was the most confusing thing Eren had seen because, as far as he knew, people only smiled when they were happy. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, Süßer," Grisha said and kissed Eren's forehead. "It's late," he added when Eren looked like he wanted to say something.

"Promise?" Eren asked as he watched his father leave the room.

"Promise. Schlaf gut."

The next morning, Eren woke up to find Grisha getting ready for work. He was already putting on his shoes in the foyer so Eren ran up to his father. "Guten morgen, Papa!" Eren greeted, wrapping his arms around his father. "Are you going to work now?"

"Mm," said Grisha, turning around so he could lift and carry his son in his arms. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yes, Papa. Did you?" Eren asked.

"I did."

"Remember what you promised last night?" Eren reminded. "Are you coming home for dinner?"

"Papa's going to be home from Friday to Sunday," Carla said, coming over. "He'll be busy at work."

"Huh?" Eren's eyes flew wide with disbelief. He turned to look at Grisha for confirmation but his heart sank when his father nodded. "B-but," he said, "why?"

"Like your Mama said," Grisha began as he put Eren down, "I'll be busy at work." He placed his hands on Eren's face, continuing in a calm but gentle tone. "Now, I want you to be a good boy while I'm at work. You're a big boy now so I'm sure you can behave yourself, ja?"

"Ja, Papa," Eren replied glumly, looking down to the floor. His eyes were stinging. He felt Grisha place caress his cheek gently, which made him raise his gaze to his father. "Come home soon, Papa," he said then gave his father a tight hug.

"I will, Mäuschen," Grisha responded warmly, hugging his son back. All too soon, they had to let go. Eren watched as his parents kissed each other goodbye before Grisha left for work. When the door closed, Eren sat down on the floor glumly.

"Come now, Eren," Carla told her son, placing her hand on his head, "I made you your favorite breakfast." Eren looked up at her, glanced at the door and nodded. Then he got up and followed her to the dining area.

Unlike the previous days, time passed by slower. The hours dripped by like honey. Since Eren was bummed out, Carla let him watch tv that morning. However, Eren found that he couldn't understand what the characters in the show were talking about so he decided to play with Collie instead. His plushie could only hold his attention for so long before boredom and impatience set in.

Eren had thrown his first tantrum after lunch that day because Carla was on the phone with someone. "Mama, why aren't you listening to me?" Eren had demanded, frustrated his mother didn't pay attention to his complaints.

"Mama is on the phone right now," Carla had told him firmly. "Sorry, what was that, Mrs Braun?" Eren had burst into tears at that moment, forcing Carla to leave Mrs Braun on the line again. "Eren, if you continue that behavior, you will have to go to time-out." And so, Eren's promise to his father to behave had been broken.

At any rate, he apologized to his mother afterwards once he had cooled down. "I'm sorry, Mama," he said, resting his head on his mother's chest when she let him sit on her lap. "I only wanted someone to play with."

"It's alright, Süßer," Carla said gently, running her fingers soothingly through her son's hair. "I should have listened to you earlier too." Eren closed his eyes, listening to his mother's heartbeat. "Do you want to go to the playground later? I'm sure you'll find some kids your age to play with."

Eren sat up and looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Really? We can go later?" Carla nodded. "Yay!" Eren hugged her. Now that he had something to look forward to, things didn't seem too bad today. Later in the afternoon, Carla brought him downstairs to the playground.

Upon arrival, Eren was delighted to find that there were other children at the playground area. Some of them played on the equipment while some were huddled in groups around the area. After a nod of approval from his mother, Eren went to look for a suitable playmate. However when he got closer, he realized the children seemed older than he was, around nine or ten years of age. None of them seemed interested in playing with him and didn't even give him so much as a second glance. The last child he tried to talk to gave him a funny look before running back to her parents.

Eren felt like a deflated balloon. All his enthusiasm and excitement he'd built up had all disappeared, giving space for disappointment to reside within him. He glanced over his shoulder to the benches where the grown-ups sat to keep an eye out for the children. To his surprise, and a little envy, he saw that his mother was chatting with another grown-up. No fair. How did she do _that_?

Dejectedly, he went to play on the swing by himself while watching the other children play. It was hard to get himself to swing—his father would push him to get him airborne. Usually when he played on the swing set, he'd feel a rush of delight every time he went up and down but now he didn't feel that at all. Why didn't the other kids want to play with him? He was nice. His mother taught him proper manners as well. He didn't scowl or try to take other people's toys. He wasn't horrendous-looking either, if appearances were a factor that helped kids make friends. Maybe it was because he was younger than them.

With a sigh, Eren dug his feet down in the woodchips to stop the swinging motion. Then he moved onto the slide. To his dismay, the bottom of the slide was blocked by a pair of twins who were sitting there, obscuring his path.

"Mama, I'm tired," Eren told his mother after going around the playground and failing to socialize or enjoy any of the equipment.

"Really? But it's only been fifteen minutes." Usually, Eren would want to stay longer at the playground, and it would even take a lot to make him leave, so Carla was surprised.

Eren didn't reply, instead he stared at the other kids out the corner of his eye. "I wanna go home," he whined.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm tired, Mama," Eren snapped, annoyed that his mother hadn't paid attention to what he said earlier. "And nobody wants to play with me," he complained, clambering onto the bench to sit beside his mother.

"Aww, really? Have you tried talking to all of them?"

Eren nodded then hesitated. "Not all but some. They didn't want to play." He stared glumly at the laughing kids. What did he have that made them not want to be his friend?

Carla didn't know how to reassure him about the other kids. Instead, she said, "I'll cut some apple slices for you later. How does that sound?"

"Apples?" Eren looked at her. "Oh, yeah. Okay. I love apples. Can you make them bunny-shaped, please?"

"Of course, Mäuschen." As Carla led him away from the playground by the hand, Eren took a glance over his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

As unfortunate as it sounded, Eren still didn't manage to make any friends the next day. Even though some of the kids from yesterday vaguely recognized him none of them wanted to play with him. Those whom he didn't see yesterday wanted to keep their distance. Discouraged, Eren kept to himself on the swing once more. He kept his eyes on the ground this time and only focused on swinging. There was no point of looking at anyone—it wasn't like they'd magically come up to him and ask him to play with them.

The sound of laughter pulled his attention towards a girl a few feet away who was being carried on the shoulders of an older boy who looked like her brother. Eren watched them enviously as the girl held her hands out, airplane style, while her brother made airplane noises. The sight made him want his father back so they could play like that as well. Drawing his eyes away, he looked at the rest of the children at the playground. It wasn't fair how they could all fit in together while Eren struggled to even make one of them look his way.

He dug his heels into the ground, sending woodchips flying. He lurked about the playground equipment, a last ditch attempt to make friends, before he gave up completely and walked back to his mother.

"They don't like me," he said when Carla turned to him.

"Eh?" Carla's eyebrows knitted together. "Who doesn't like you?"

"Everyone!" Eren stomped his foot on the ground and crossed his arms. His lower lip wobbled. "They don't want to talk to or play with me!"

"Eren —"

"I wanna go home," he whined, rubbing away at his eyes. A few parents had turned their heads in his direction in concern. "I don't like the kids here. They're all _mean_."

Carla was shocked by her son's words. She looked to one of the parents she had talked to earlier and said, "Maybe you could talk to that nice lady's son —" Eren only took one glance at the boy she was mentioning and shook his head rapidly.

" _He_ didn't want to talk to me," Eren complained. "I don't want to play here ever again."

Carla opened her mouth to say something but realized that perhaps she should let Eren be. Sighing, she rose from the bench and took her son's hand. "Come on, let's just go home," she said with resignation.

That night after Carla tucked her son into bed, Eren thought about the girl and her brother from the playground. It must be fun, he thought, having someone to play with. Eren didn't always have anyone to play with at home; Papa often came home late and Mama was always busy making things on her laptop. It was always Eren, his toys and his imagination that kept him entertained at home. There were pangs of envy and sadness in his chest when he thought about how life used to be back home, when he had friends from the neighborhood and he wasn't always cooped up inside the house. How he wished he could have a friend to talk to now. It would make things so much easier if he did. Somehow he managed to doze off but he fell into a dreamless sleep.

He woke up the next morning and got out of bed, yawning. The baby blue blackout curtains had been drawned, leaving sunlight to be filtered into the room by the sheer curtains. Eren picked Collie up from the floor and placed his plushie Titan on the bed. Then, he went to the kitchen to have breakfast, which was oatmeal with banana and cinnamon that Carla had made.

"Oh, right, Collie," said Eren after eating, remembering that he had left his Titan on the bed. He made his way to his bedroom but he found out there was someone else in the room.

There was a man standing beside Eren's bed. He was holding up Collie, inspecting the plushie Titan with narrowed gray eyes. He had short black hair that was styled in an undercut. He wasn't as tall as the grown-ups Eren knew but something about his posture and his aura that suggested he was a grown-up. It was hard for Eren to tell how the man was feeling since his face looked like he was halfway between being expressionless and frowning.

Eren stared at the man but for some reason, he wasn't afraid at all. In fact, the man seemed vaguely familiar to him although Eren wasn't sure why. He was about to open his mouth, to ask who the man was when a name popped up in his head.

 _Levi_.

As though he was called, the man turned his attention away from Collie to the little boy standing by the door. He stared at Eren for a long moment before wrinkling his nose. "Tch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mäuschen - little mouse  
> süßer - sweetie  
> ja - yes, okay or that's right (it's a very versatile term but for this chapter's context, i've limited it to these 3 meanings)  
> schlaf gut - sleep well
> 
> also can we talk abt the colossal titan being made into a harmless plushie and named collie.


	3. zwei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's levi's first day of being an imaginary friend and eren gives him a hard time.

Maybe Levi should've given that pizza guy a bigger tip. Maybe he should've given that old lady a seat on the train back from work. He was thinking about how he should've done more good deeds when he was alive, because he had a feeling this imaginary friend job would suck. Big time. As he skimmed through the document Not-Erwin gave him, regret gnawed on him.

" _Jesus fucking Christ_ ," Levi muttered, his scowl deepening. For some silly reason, the section about that Jäger kid was only two pages long. The rest of the document consisted of a long list of do's and don'ts for imaginary friends, appropriate methods of child management, and way more things Levi wouldn't give two flying fucks about. Fantastic, he thought, very fantastic. He had been given a sentence that had two of the things he disliked—children and needing to follow a rigid set of rules and behavior. This was probably the closest he could get to Hell and the farthest he could be from Heaven.

"Is there a problem?" questioned the angel, turning robotically to face Levi.

"Loads," Levi answered, rolling his eyes. The angel didn't appear to sympathize with him. The two of them were walking down a long hallway—or was it a room?—that somewhat resembled one of the hallways at the place Levi used to work at when he was alive. It even smelled the same, the scent of cleaning agents, perfume and coffee mixing together that made Levi crinkle his nose. He could only assume that at the end of the hallway was where he would start his new job.

Suddenly, he wanted to stop walking.

If he remained stationary, he wouldn't have to be any spoiled brat's imaginary friend. He wouldn't have to spend God-knows-how-long with a kid until they grew tired of him. The idea sounded tempting to Levi, right until the logical part of his brain knocked some sense into him saying, 'Staying still is exactly like being stuck in limbo. Nothing exciting will happen, you'll be trapped until God decides to throw his creations in the trash and start over. You're not having that.'

"Mr Ackerman," said the angel, catching Levi's attention before he could take one more step. With a start, the dark-haired man realized they had reached the end of the hallway. There was a room beyond where Levi stood although what was inside it was imperceptible; it was just blinding white.

"Yeah, what is it?" Levi sighed, turning to face the angel.

"Godspeed," the angel said.

Levi frowned then rolled his eyes. "Sure, you too, Bushy Brows." Then, he turned around and stepped into the room.

Honestly, he didn't know what to expect, other than anything particularly dramatic. A great whooshing sound and him falling through space. Or some awkward elevator music while he was transported between planes of existence. There were more possible scenarios that had flashed through his head but all of those didn't come through. Instead, in a blink of an eye, the blinding white he had seen melted away. In its place, Levi found himself standing in a bedroom. A child's bedroom to be exact.

It was obvious from the way the room was decorated—a colorful rug on the floor, glow-in-the-dark stars, robot-patterned bedsheets, the child-friendly furniture and the plushie. Levi wrinkled his nose at the plushie with distaste. Why the heck would anyone want to give their child a miniscule version of a humanlike-creature that had threads of muscles exposed? Sure, it was probably designed to look cuddly with those big blue eyes and a wide, toothy grin but otherwise Levi thought it was somewhat disturbing for a child, especially the five-year old Rotzbengel he was supposed to be looking after.

Eren Jäger.

At any rate, the kid was currently absent from the room, and judging from the warmth on the bedsheets, Levi suspected the kid hadn't been gone long. With a sigh, he walked towards the bed and picked the Titan plushie up. Frowning, he looked at it from all angles, scrutinizing every detail of the toy. He wondered what kind of joy Eren, or any child, would've gotten from playing with this kind of thing. Also, what were Eren's parents thinking of getting one of these plushies for their brat?

While Levi was silently judging the toy and the Jägers, there was this faint tickling sensation on his nape followed by a whisper—his name. It wasn't something he heard with his own ears, rather something he heard in his mind. He stopped, then turned to look when he saw a little boy standing at the door staring at him.

That must be the kid. The Rotzbengel named Eren Jäger.

Levi stared at Eren disdainfully, taking into account of the bedhead, the little stain on his shirt from breakfast presumably and the mismatched socks. Intuition told Levi this boy would _not_ be making his job easy. This caused a tut of annoyance to escape from him, followed by the deeper crease to form on his brow.

"I need to pee!" Eren announced, for whatever reason, before dashing off to the bathroom. Bewildered, Levi's eyebrows twitched but he remained in place. Dropping the Titan plushie on the bed, he took a seat on the bed, facing the door. He didn't have to wait for long till he heard the sound of the toilet flushing, followed by the pattering of feet that grew louder as Eren approached the room. The little boy stopped at the door once more, his eyes raking over Levi while they gleamed with excitement.

With narrowed eyes, Levi watched as Eren clambered onto the bed beside him. "I'm Eren. Eren Jäger!" Eren announced, sticking his hand out to Levi. "I'm five years old!"

"The name's Levi," Levi said tonelessly.

"Right! I'll call you Levi!" Eren decided. "Wait, no. Mama says I should call grown-ups as Mr or Mrs. I'll call you Mr Levi."

Levi's eyebrows furrowed together. "No, just Levi is fine."

Eren made no outward sign that he acknowledged what Levi had said. Instead, he grabbed his Titan plushie and held it out to Levi. "This is Collie," he stated as though he were introducing another person to Levi. "He likes eating cake and playing outside."

"Right."

Eren stared at Levi for a long moment. For a child  like him, Levi noted he had a very intense stare, even though his gaze bore only open curiosity. If Levi recalled correctly from the report regarding Eren, this child had trouble making friends around his age in this area. Levi could guess the reason why that was so. No kid, or person, would appreciate being looked at like that.

Eren poked a finger on the crease that had formed when Levi frowned. "You've got a funny look on your face," Eren observed. His fingernail dug into the man's skin and the amount of pressure he was putting on Levi's forehead to make a point was unnecessary.

"Quit it," Levi responded indignantly, leaning away and making a swatting motion. "And hasn't your mother taught you poking people is rude?"

Eren shrugged although he seemed uninterested in what Levi had to say. He was clambering off the bed and approaching the frame that held storage bins of assorted colors. Picking the lowest one, Eren pulled out a toy car and gave it to Levi. Then he went back, grabbed another toy, a T-rex, and did the same as he did before. "Let's play!" Eren demanded, now pulling Levi by the sleeve so they could sit on the rug. "You're playing the bad dinosaur, Mr T-rex, and I'll play the good guy, Collie. Also, make roaring noises. No—the car is Collie's. Collie will drive the car like this, see? Hey, make those roaring noises! Collie needs to know Mr T-rex wants to fight him so he can save the town. No, Mr T-rex should use his tail to hit Collie but Collie will jump. Mr Levi, do you even know how to play?"

Levi scowled at Eren. The logical part of his mind was telling him that he should suck it up since it was technically his job. So he gritted his teeth and did as he was told but Eren found his efforts unsatisfying. Not only that, he began to demand more of Levi, wanting to play the toys his way and stopping Levi whenever something was done according to his preference. Tiny hands snatched the T-rex out of Levi's hands to position it properly, followed by Eren saying things like "No, you're not doing it right," to "Let me go first!" For a person who hated being told what to do at every step of the way, playing with Eren was causing Levi's mood to worsen by the minute. Just when Levi was certain he was a second away from walking out to scream, Mrs Jäger came by and stood by the door.

"Eren, it's bath time," she said. Levi exhaled in relief, already dropping the toys that Eren made him hold.

"But I don't want a bath." Eren pouted, grabbing Levi by the sleeve just as the man was getting up. "I want to play." Even though Levi knew Mrs Jäger couldn't see him, he shot her a look of desperation that said, "Save me, woman."

Mrs Jäger sighed then walked inside. She sat down beside Eren, looking at the toys that were spread around on the rug. "Well, how about this: I'll let you play for five more minutes, then bath time, okay?" Levi half-expected Eren to stomp his foot and disagree but the child simply nodded and gave his mother a hug.

"Hurry, Mr Levi! We have to play before our time is up," Eren prompted, tugging Levi by the sleeve to sit beside him. He pushed the toys into Levi's hands and picked up from where they left off earlier. The the tiny break from play gave Levi the chance to cool off a little but it wasn't enough. It was barely a minute into their extended time before he felt like screaming again so he pretended that his wrist hurt.

It didn't work as well as he thought it would as Eren suggested he use his other hand instead. "Mr Levi, why won't you play properly?" Eren was frowning now, clearly exasperated by Levi. "You did not do what I'm telling you to do."

"Last I checked, I'm not your damn dog," Levi replied sourly with a roll of his eyes. "And if you want to play your toys your way, why don't you play by yourself?" What he said probably violated one of the rules of being an imaginary friend but it had to be said. If Levi was going to maintain his sanity around this child, he had to make himself clear that he wouldn't tolerate certain actions. However, his words had the opposite effect he'd been hoping for. Instead of showing signs of guilt, Eren's gaze hardened.

"Because it's not fun," Eren answered haughtily. "And I don't have anyone else to be friends with."

"I can see why," Levi said dryly.

Eren was opening his mouth to say something but Mrs Jäger returned to the room to remind him that his five extra minutes were over and that it was bath time. Eren looked to Levi, who did a shooing motion with his hand, then folded his lips together. "Okay, Mama," Eren told his mother before following after her.

A huge sigh of relief puffed its way out of Levi as he lay back on the floor. The past fifteen minutes took a lot out of him so the pep talk he had given himself prior to meeting Eren was thrown out of the window. At this rate, with his menial amount of patience and Eren's disposition, he was certain he wouldn't survive until every trace of him faded out of Eren's memories. Either one of them would snap, Levi thought. Feeling drained, his eyes fluttered shut for a moment as he soaked in the atmosphere of the room.

It was way better without the Rotzbengel in it. The room had the right amount of quiet for one to be able to relax. The floor was cool beneath his back. The soft drone of the television from the living room could be heard. Levi could've believed right there and then that he was still alive, relaxing in his _own_ apartment on a lazy Sunday morning. Everything was perfect.

At least until he heard footsteps approaching the room followed by the vaguest feeling of someone peering down at him, with about two inches of air separating their faces. Levi resisted the urge to allow his facial muscles to twitch into a scowl. He could only maintain his act for five seconds when he felt tiny hands clasp over his right hand. He heard snickers of a child—obviously Eren—when his hand was moved to his face. Before Levi could crack open one of his eyes, his own index finger was inserted into his nostril. The snickers became louder when Levi eyelids flew open into a glare. "And what the fuck do you think you're doing?" he said with an annoyed undertone.

Eren let out a squeal, scrabbling away from Levi to hide behind his bed. He was laughing while peeking over from behind it. "Wasn't me!" Yeah, as if anyone was falling for that obvious lie when Levi clearly saw Eren hovering over him.

"You come back here, satansbraten." Levi got to his feet and Eren squealed before he ran out of the room. Levi's eyebrows shot upwards when he realized Eren hadn't any clothes. "Mein Gott, put on some pants! You're not a savage!"

"I'm Tarzan!" Eren called out from somewhere in the apartment and bellowed like the cartoon character.

Levi groaned, putting his hand to his head. Scratch the possibility of either him or Eren snapping. He was certain he was the only one would be losing his sanity soon.

* * *

Fortunately, Levi wasn't forced to play with Eren after the child's bath time. Once Eren got dressed, Mrs Jäger brought him with her to go grocery shopping. It would've been great for Levi to have the whole apartment to himself to recover from this morning. However, that wasn't possible. As soon as Eren and his mother were about to walk out the front door, a strange sensation overtook Levi. It was best described as a rope around his body, pulling him towards Eren. No matter how he tried to resist, the pull only got stronger. Once he realized his efforts were fruitless, he surrendered and followed the mother and her son. Suffice to say, he wasn't pleased.

Eren's eyes twinkled with delight when he glanced back to see Levi trailing behind like a sodden, grumpy dog. In response, Levi simply scowled even more and Eren giggled. The nerve of that brat!

As the Jägers did not have car, they had to take the bus to get to the nearby supermarket. Somehow, Levi managed to find a spot just a little away from the seats that Eren and his mother occupied. He spent the whole ride staring out the window sullenly. When they reached their stop, Levi made sure to put at least five feet of distance between him and Eren.

"Come closer, Mr Levi," Eren prompted when Mrs Jäger went to get a shopping basket. "Or else you'll get lost."

"No way," Levi grunted. He increased his distance from Eren by an inch. "And I won't get lost." Not with that invisible leash on me, Levi thought.

"You can hold my hand," Eren suggested, offering his hand, "or Mama's."

"No thank you." Levi crossed his arms so that his hands were out of Eren's reach. Fortunately, Eren didn't try to bother him anymore after Mrs Jäger called Eren over. While maintaining his distance from behind, Levi took the opportunity to observe Eren and his mother. Since he didn't know how long he was going to be tied to this child, he thought it was best to take note of how Mrs Jäger managed Eren. After all, she did seem like a role model of a mother.

Every so often, Eren would glance over his shoulder to check if Levi was still there. It was like he was afraid Levi might somehow disappear although he had no idea that wouldn't be happening any time soon. Levi pretended not to notice it. When they arrived at the fresh produce aisle, Eren let go of his mother's hand and walked towards Levi. "Veggies," he said with disgust.

"Veggies?" Levi echoed with a frown. "What's wrong with veggies?"

"I don't like them," Eren complained and looked over at his mother, who was inspecting a head of broccoli. "They're green and weird."

"So?" Levi responded without sympathy. "They're good for you."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it yummy." Eren shuddered with disgust. He looked past Levi when something caught his attention. Levi was turning to see what it was when Eren took a step towards one of the aisles behind Levi. "Ooh, candy!"

"Eren, no." Levi reached out to grab Eren by the collar when Eren darted away from him, giggling. "Eren, come back here this instant," he demanded when Eren broke into a run towards the candy aisle. "Your mother will not be pleased!"

" _Blegh!_ " Eren called over his shoulder and snatched a colorful packet of gummy bears from the closest shelf. He gave a delighted squeal when Levi loomed over him. "You're not Mama so you can't tell me what to do!" Levi tried to grab him again but Eren sidestepped out of his reach and ran past him.

Levi's face had acquired a slightly reddish tint as he chased after Eren. The little Rotzbengel was like a mouse, squeezing into between other people's shopping carts and narrowly escaping Levi's snatches. Not only was he mischievous but he was smart, and Levi disliked that because that made Eren more difficult to manage. Their game of cat-and-mouse didn't last long and they ended up at Mrs Jäger's side afterwards.

"Mama, I got Haribo Gummy Bears!" Eren announced, holding out the packet like a trophy. "Can I have candy, please?"

"That's quite a big packet," Mrs Jäger commented, taking it from Eren. "I don't think Papa will be happy if he knows you're eating this much," she added. Levi could only scoff and roll his eyes incredulously when Eren pouted and did the puppy-dog eyes.

"Please, Mama? We can share," Eren offered. "And I'll share with other kids from the playground if they want!"

There were a few heartbeats Mrs Jäger spent in a thoughtful silence. Levi stared her down as though he was trying to send her a telepathic message that said, "For the love of God, please say no to the Satan spawn you call your son." Then she knelt down so she was eye-level with Eren and placed the bag in his hands.

"I know you like gummy bears," Mrs Jäger said, "but eating too much of this is bad for you." Before Eren could protest, she added, "How about we try that new banana milk we saw on tv the other day? You said you wanted one of those, right?"

Eren opened his mouth then paused. "Oh yeah!" He brightened up. "Do they sell it here?"

"I think I saw some earlier."

"Then let's go get some!"

"Yes, but let's put the gummy bears back where you found it."

"Okay!"

Once the groceries were paid for, they headed back home. The satansbraten was an angel for his mother once more, offering to help carry some of the bags for her. Levi couldn't help but wonder if this was Eren's tactic to butter his mother up or if he was just simply this well-behaved around her. If it was the former, Levi had to brace himself. If it was the latter, he really should take notes from Mrs Jäger. In the end, Eren was handed a bag of baby carrots to hold. Surprisingly, he didn't have an aversion towards it although it could either be him putting on a good-boy facade or carrots were the only veggies he didn't mind much.

When they reached the apartment, Mrs Jäger gave Eren a lunch-sized box of banana milk as a reward. "Look, Mr Levi," said Eren when he came into the room, showing the milk like he wanted to brag about it. "Mama, gave me this and it tastes yummy."

Levi rolled his eyes, plopping the bean bag in the corner of the room with a sigh. "Good for you," he remarked.

"Mhm!" Eren agreed, completely missing the sarcasm in Levi's tone. He continued to drink his milk. Levi watched warily as Eren approached him when the child sat on his lap. "After I finish my milk, play with me."

"Can I get a huge 'No' with a side of 'Get off me'?" Levi responded, trying to shake Eren off his lap. The kid was heavier than he looked.

"I won't move until you say you will play with me."

"Mein gott, why are you so stubborn? Listen, your mother didn't —"

"Mr Levi," Eren said and turned to look at Levi. The earnest look on his face made Levi stop for a moment. "Please play with me."

A heartbeat passed when Levi belatedly realized the little brat was using that stupid puppy-dog-eyes tactic on him. Irritation sparked in him; didn't he already tell himself not to let this child to get the best of him? Forming the sternest expression he could muster, Levi looked to Eren right in the eyes and said, "Quit bothering me, brat."

A long moment passed once Eren dropped the silly pleading tactic. Just as Levi was starting to feel triumphant, thinking he succeeded in making Eren stop, the child turned right back around. "Fine," he said, "I'll just sit here until you want to play with me then."

Once again, Levi felt like screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rotzbengel - brat  
> Satansbraten - satan spawn, devil child  
> Mein Gott - my God


	4. drei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, thanks for coming over to check out this chapter. i really apologize for taking so long with this chapter! i had a whole month of exam prep and exams so i couldn't find the time to sit down and write. but yeah, here's a new chapter and i really hope y'all will love it!

Levi barely survived the next few days, if the word 'survive' could still apply to him even though he was technically dead. Even if Levi's sentence wasn't technically as bad as being sent to Hell, it might as well be. The brat annoyed him to no end, from the moment Eren first opened his eyes for the day to the last time he closed them at night. There were too many times Levi had to distance himself from Eren so he wouldn't blow his top on the kid—he was considerate like that. Eren, of course, didn't understand Levi's plight but took offense to every timeout Levi gave himself. That self-centered brat.

However, with every storm that came, there'd always sunshine at the end. Levi awoke one morning to find Eren's bed empty, its sheets rumpled. He tensed, sitting up from the chair he fell asleep in, and looked around the room. There was no telling whether Eren would jump him from behind, almost give Levi a heart attack, and then insist they start playing. It had happened yesterday so it could happen today. Fortunately as far as Levi could tell, it was just him in the room this morning. Suddenly, he felt his facial muscles tug when he was aware he was smiling. Levi never smiled often but on the occasion he did, it was always noticeable by the slight upwards curve at the corners of his mouth.

"Fucking finally!" Levi exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. He sat down on Eren's bed and flopped back against it. He had his arm thrown over his eyes, the smile still resting on his lips. He allowed himself a few minutes to lay there when sounds he'd been ignoring earlier in his joy drifted to his ears from the open door. Eren's voice, babbling excitedly away, was registered right away to Levi but the next person who spoke made him sit up right away. It was a masculine voice, speaking in a baritone; Levi couldn't immediately dentify to whom it belonged to but hearing Eren respond to the person caused him to go and check.

Not that he was worried for the brat's safety and wellbeing.

Upon entering the kitchen, the tension left Levi's body as his gaze fell on the table. Usually in the morning he was greeted by the sight of only Carla and Eren. However today there was a man seated with them. Levi assumed this man to be Mr Jäger, who had been away from the household for the past few days—he worked at some hospital in the city, Levi recalled. Mr Jäger had long dark hair that parted neatly down the middle and was tucked behind his ears. He had a thin beard and a mustache. A pair of round glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. He was wearing an affectionate smile as Eren recounted something from yesterday, babbling away. Mr Jäger chuckled and ruffled his son's hair.

As Levi regarded Mr Jäger from the mouth of the corridor, he couldn't quite tell Mr Jäger's resemblance to his son. But before he could stare a little longer to ascertain whether this man truly was Mr Jäger—without consulting Eren's background info file—Eren's eyes landed on him. The boy broke off in the middle of his sentence and gave a toothy grin. Setting his spoon down, Eren slid off his chair at the table and ran up to Levi. "Mama, Papa, Levi's here!" he announced.

Levi scoffed. It wasn't as though he were visible to Eren's parents. To them, he was simply a figment of Eren's imagination and a part of the child's mind. However, Eren tugged Levi by the sleeve and half-dragged half-led him to table. "Mr Levi is my friend," he clarified, pulling Levi's hand out like he was making Levi give his parents a handshake.

Levi was about to make a snide comment and snatch his hand away when the Jäger parents looked his way. Of course, Levi knew he was invisible but the gazes of Eren's parents were enough to stop him.

"Pleased to meet you, Levi," said Mr Jäger as he made a handshake motion. Unfortunately, his hand was inches away from where Levi's was.

"Right here, Papa," Eren giggled as he directed his father's hand to Levi's.

On Grisha's end, it was like grabbing thin air. However Levi was surprised that he could actually feel Mr Jäger's hand, his firm grip and his callused palm. And then before he could react, his hand was moved to Mrs Jäger's.

"Great!" Eren commented once the handshakes were exchanged. "Levi, you sit here next to me. I saved this seat for you," he said, pulling the chair. After sparing a confused glance at Eren, Levi took a seat and directing his attention back to his hand. As far as he was concerned, he knew he was currently a figment of Eren's imagination, nonexistent to any other living entities. Even if he did try to interact with them, he would receive no reaction from them. He was like a ghost, in a way. Yet a part of him couldn't help but worry about the possibility that he actually was visible and tangible to Eren's parents. After all, he did shake their hands—whether or not they felt it would remain a mystery for him. Perhaps he should consult his imaginary friend guide later.

"Eat your breakfast, Levi," prompted Eren, nudging Levi out of his thoughts. The child pointed at a bowl of oat porridge with banana slices, raisins and honey; it wasn't there before. "Or else you'll be hungry," he added when Levi sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." The truth was Levi didn't need food, nor did the natural desire for food exist in his system. As he ate, he tasted nothing on his tongue and felt nothing. It was like eating air and Levi had to admit it was a bit weird to chew for the sake of keeping up the act. Fortunately the 'food' was eaten up in a few spoonfuls. It would've been a waste of energy and time if there were any more porridge he had to 'eat'. "Done," he announced.

"Huh? No fair!" Eren frowned at Levi's empty bowl. "I have to eat faster than you."

"Remember to chew your food properly, Eren," reminded Carla.

"Ja, Mama," Eren responded but he ate his food faster. Levi couldn't help but shake his head at how silly Eren was; did he really want to compete with Levi over that? Children truly were ridiculous. As Eren munched on with renewed vigor, Levi left the table as he had no interest in remaining at a place where he wasn't needed.

Unlike the past few days where time didn't relate to Levi's perception of it, today was a welcome exception. He didn't have to do much other than linger or follow the family around like a shadow. It was almost like Eren had forgotten about him. Situations with minimal interaction with the child was welcomed and Levi was grateful to have a whole day of it. This period was also probably the longest Levi had gone without wrinkling his facial muscles in disgust, annoyance or impatience. By the time night fell and Eren was tucked into bed for the night, Levi was the most content he had ever been.

"Hello Levi," said Eren from his bed.

Levi's eyes cracked open just a little to see the little boy staring at him with those large, teal-green eyes. "What?"

"What do you think of Papa?"

Levi shrugged; he didn't know much about Mr Jäger so he didn't have much of an opinion. But as he remained silent, Eren's gaze bore into him to the point that he felt compelled to answer. "Look," Levi began, detachedly annoyed of Eren, "I think he's an alright dad. There."

Eren broke into a huge grin. "Yeah, me too," he agreed then moved to lie on his back. "Papa's such a nice man. I like him a lot."

"I'm sure you do."

"I want him to stay," Eren stated plainly. "I know Papa must work in the city but I don't want him to go. I want to see him at home everyday. So I can play with him. And Mama and I can laugh like we used to."

Since the start of the week, there was a few times Mr Jäger would video-call his family and chat for a bit. Levi never bothered to eavesdrop as he'd rather enjoy the precious few minutes he had in solitude. Hearing Eren say these things about his father, sounding a little sad as he did, brought an unexplainable dull ache in Levi's chest. Maybe that'd been the reason why he had been handed this sentence, or rather, came into existence in Eren's life. Levi remembered something he had read when he was alive that some children made up imaginary friends for a source of comfort when they were having difficulties. According to Eren's file, he had been unable to make friends with some of the children in the area prior to Levi's arrival. However it would've made sense if Levi was a child, instead of an adult.

"Levi?" Eren's voice broke into his thoughts once more.

Levi turned his face towards Eren, who was sitting up now with some degree of concern on his features. "What is it, Eren?" Levi asked.

"You have a funny look on your face," Eren said. "Like you want to poop but you —"

"Schlaf gut, Rotzbengel," Levi cut Eren off.

"Hey!"

Levi shut his eyes and remained as still as he could. Eren called his name five times before giving up. A few minutes passed before Levi checked on Eren. The little boy was asleep now. As Levi stood over Eren's bed, a strange mixture of emotions overcame him. A fierce protectiveness and unexpected fondness. The moment Levi could place names on those feelings, he shook his head and took a step back. Funny how he was always on the last threads of patience when Eren was awake yet here he was feeling this way when the child was asleep. With a sigh, he reached out and patted Eren's head gently.

"Sleep well, Mäuschen."

 

* * *

 

Fortunately on the next day, Mr Jäger was still home, which meant Levi could still snatch a few hours of his break from being an imaginary friend. Unfortunately in the evening he had to resume his job.

"Papa, we need a sketchascope," announced Eren.

"A sketchascope coming right up, Doc Jäger," Mr Jäger said, picking up a toy stethoscope.

"This is ridiculous," Levi huffed loudly. He was laying on the couch while Eren and his father were playing doctor. According to them, he was the miraculous yet unfortunate patient who was alive but had no heartbeat. He could only have a diet of vegetables, as 'eating' meat would cause him to go cannibalistic. Because of that, he was diagnosed with notazombieorvampireitis, which was a mouthful to say and a rather uncreative name for a medical condition in his opinion.

Levi was thwacked on the head with a sock. "Ow, what was that —"

"Shh," Eren prompted. Mr Jäger wore the stethoscope and placed the listening end on Levi's chest. Even though Levi didn't have broad medical knowledge, he knew very well Mr Jäger was putting it on the wrong side of his chest. "Papa, Levi's heart is on the other right."

"The left, you mean?"

" _Ja_." Eren giggled. "I forgot what the word is."

"Who let you graduate from med school if you can't put the stethoscope on the correct side of the patient's chest?" Levi grumbled.

Eren shot Levi a pointed glare before his expression changed the moment he faced his father. Clutching the sock he had thwacked Levi with earlier, he watched Mr Jäger's face with concern. "How is the patient, Papa?" he questioned, tugging the sock.

Mr Jäger made a show of nodding before removing the stethoscope. He removed his glasses, cleaned it with a cloth then said, "It's time to try out the special medicine." Eren's eyes lit up where as Levi's features contorted with confusion. Before Levi could start to protest, Eren grabbed a toy baby bottle and stuffed it into Levi's mouth.

"Mhmf fmfh!" Levi complained but Eren held the bottle fast.

"It's for your own good, Mr Levi!" Eren thwacked Levi with a sock again. "It'll make you feel better so you'll stop having _notazombieorvampireitis_!"

"Mm fmf mfh hm!"

As fast as Eren had shoved the bottle in Levi's mouth, he removed it just as quick. "Okay, the patient has taken all the medicine," he announced proudly, ignorant of the seething glare from Levi. "The sketchascope, please."

" _Stethoscope!_ Not sketchascope," Levi corrected when Eren put the sock in his mouth. He spat it out at once when the stethoscope was placed on his chest. "What? So did your stupid medicine work or am I still suffering from that ridiculous disease?" he demanded.

"He's cured!" Eren announced happily, removing the stethoscope. He and Mr Jäger gave each other a high-five. "We're the best doctors in the world!" Eren cheered as Mr Jäger lifted him up, causing him to burst into a fit of giggles. Had Levi just been an onlooker instead, he'd have found this particularly heartwarming.

"Good riddance," Levi huffed, sitting up and reached for his shirt hanging over the armrest of the couch. "I thought I'd never see the end of this," he added as he buttoned his shirt up. Once he flipped his collar down, he rose from the couch and peered at Eren who was obediently putting away his doctor toys. The boy had a happy glow about him, one that Levi didn't notice him having the past few days while his father was away. Something twisted in Levi's chest but he turned away before he could let the sensation get to his head. He looked to the wall clock instead, taking note that it was now nine o'-clock. It was time for Eren to go to bed.

Usually Levi would remind Eren that it was time to get ready for bed but tonight he hesitated. It didn't seem fair to shorten the amount of time he had left with his father. Eren was now hopping over to Mr Jäger on the armchair and climbing onto his father's lap. Mrs Jäger had taken to the couch where Levi had lay earlier. Feeling like an intruder, Levi walked back to Eren's room. The sounds of the Jäger family interacting followed him.

No longer than half an hour after Levi left the living area. Mr Jäger came into the room, carrying a sleepy Eren, piggyback. Levi looked up from reading the section of do's and don'ts in his file, his gaze following Mr Jäger setting Eren on the bed. He watched as Eren pleaded for a bedtime story and Mr Jäger obliging to his son's request—tonight's story was The Three Little Pigs. After Mr Jäger had finished the story, kissed his son goodnight and left the room, Levi rose from the beanbag. He glanced at Eren, whose back was facing him. He hesitated before clearing his throat. "You okay there, kid?"

At first Eren didn't move. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, he shook his head—Levi noticed because of the sound of Eren's hair moving against the pillowcase. Levi sat down on Eren's bed, the mattress shifting a little with his weight. He didn't face Eren, not yet. "Wanna talk about it?" he ventured.

Eren looked over his shoulder at Levi. He was clutching Collie tightly under his arm. "I don't want Papa to go." Even though his voice was tiny, it was enough to make Levi turn around. "I'm scared to sleep," he admitted.

Levi leaned back a little then stopped. Truthfully, this wasn't like him at all. He hated comforting others because he tended to say the most insensitive things. That was why Levi felt a bit weird trying this whole consolation thing out. What if he messed up and hurt Eren's feelings? But if he didn't do anything, then it'd be like defeating the purpose of being sentenced as a child's imaginary friend. Levi still hated his task but he wasn't an irresponsible person. "Mind if I lie down next to you?" Levi didn't even know if this was the right way to offer consolation or if Eren would try to kick him.

Eren was looking at him the way kids do when they were curious. He blinked then bit his lip. "Okay." He shifted to make space. Somehow Levi managed to fit on the bed next to Eren; the two of them lay side by side, shoulders barely touching at all. They laid there in silence for a few moments before Eren said, "Do you think if I stay awake, I can see Papa go tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't that be painful to watch?"

"Why?"

Levi's facial muscles twitched; he would've scowled had he not controlled himself. "Because you'll only feel sad watching him go, won't you?"

"But if I wake up and Papa's not there, then it makes me sad too," Eren argued.

Levi was starting to question why he even bothered at all. Perhaps this is what he deserved for letting that tiny ounce of sympathy override his logic. Eren would love to debate on this matter and Levi didn't think he'd have the energy to keep up. Instead of saying anything, he stared at the ceiling. "Your dad's a great dad," he said, changing the topic before Eren could.

"He's the best dad," Eren corrected but there was an obvious note of love and pride. "Best dad ever."

"Mhm."

Eren turned to face Levi. "Did you like when we played earlier?"

"You mean when you forced me to play with you two?"

"Yes." Kids. Always brutally honest without even trying. Maybe Levi should give Eren credit for that.

"It was horibble." Levi turned his head. "You think I _appreciated_ having a baby bottle and that disgusting sock stuffed in my mouth? That's practically patient abuse! A violation of my rights!"

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Eren said but he was laughing.

"And what kind of a disease is _notazombieorvampireitis_? It's too long!"

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Eren nudged Levi with his foot. "It's a cool name."

"It's a stupid name."

"You're stupid."

"No, you are."

" _Excuse you_ ," Levi protested, drawing out the vowels. Eren stuck his tongue out in response. It was such a childish gesture but Levi caught himself doing the same before he moved to face away from Eren. The child beside him was giggling, poking his back but Levi didn't buckle. No way he would, not when he could feel the symptoms of a smile threatening to appear. He didn't even know why he was on the verge of grinning. In the end, he decided to give it the benefit of doubt and pinned it on the reason that he succeeded in stopping Eren from falling asleep sad. After awhile the persistent pokes stopped and Levi dared a glance over his shoulder.

Eren had already fallen asleep, his hand still slightly outstretched—he must've gotten tired of pestering Levi then nodded off. Levi sat up and drew out a long exhale. "Sleep tight, Eren."


	5. vier

"Levi? Mr Levi? Leeeeeeeeeviiiiiiii!"

Facial muscles twitching into a mild scowl, Levi mumbled something incoherent under his breath and shifted a little. According to the barely conscious part of his brain, it was too early to be awake hence he ignored whoever it was who was calling him. They could come back when Levi was ready to respond like a normal human being.

"Mr Levi, if you don't wake up now I'll … I'll put gummy worms in your ears! And draw on your face!" The voice was unrelenting, too high-pitched and too demanding. Eren, Levi thought, and consciousness edged closer. The crease on his forehead deepened slightly—couldn't he have a few more moments of rest without being the subject of childish threats? At this hour of the morning? Kids didn't wake up this early as far as Levi knew. Perhaps Eren's internal clock was broken but why did Levi have to deal with it?

Because you're his imaginary friend and it's your job, replied a tiny voice in Levi's head that sounded too much like that Erwin-angel-lookalike. "Try me, Satansbraten," Levi spoke in a low tone, daring Eren while his eyes were closed.

There was a hesitant pause. "Okay. But I don't have gummy worms now so I'll draw on your face." A patter of footsteps walking away from Levi followed shortly after. There was some noise of shuffling, followed by a triumphant "Aha!" before Levi cracked his eyes open just a little enough to see Eren coming over. The little boy was clutching a bunch of crayons and markers. There was a huge devious grin on Eren's face.

Levi closed his eyes fully once the boy returned. He could hear the clatter of objects on the floor and had to resist the urge to cringe. "What are you going to draw on me?" he asked.

"You'll see," replied Eren in a singsong voice and giggled.

A weight settled on Levi's lap followed by the sensation of something pressed hard against his cheek. "Ow, what the—" Levi's eyes flew open to see Eren attempting to draw on his skin with crayon.

"Hello." Eren smiled sweetly at Levi as the crayon carried its journey on Levi's skin.

"Are you stupid?" Levi was doing his best not to wince from the crayon tip digging into his face.

"I'm Eren."

"You can't draw on my face with crayon."

"I can."

"No."

"I'm doing it now," Eren said as he demonstrated his claim by pushing the crayon tip back into Levi's cheek. Not only was there crusty bits of crayon left behind on his imaginary friend's skin, there was also a trail of red that stung from the pressure. Levi pushed Eren with just enough strength to displace the boy from his lap. There was already a scowl creasing his forehead. With a sharp glare directed at a giggling Eren, Levi brought the back of his hand across his cheek with a wince then sighed.

"If you want to draw on a person's face," he began as he watched Eren pick up the crayons, "use a marker instead. Crayons are painful."

Eren stuck out his tongue at Levi. "You're a big baby, Mr Levi. It's not _that_ painful."

"How about I draw on your face with crayons then?" Levi's eyes narrowed.

"No thank you," Eren replied politely—that little brat had the audacity to smile like angel—and patted Levi's thigh. "I think you'll be bad at drawing."

"Well, you're not exactly Van Gogh, are you?" Levi retorted and shook his head. He checked the cartoon cat-shaped clock on Eren's nightstand and frowned when he realized the time. He turned to ask Eren why he was up so early before finding the child nowhere in sight, the only proof of Eren's presence being the sound of footsteps walking down the corridor away from the room.

Following the sound, he went to the kitchen to find Eren poking around the contents of the fridge. Someone ought to use the child lock, Levi thought, as Eren pulled out a potato, sniffed it then put it back. It wasn't long before Mrs Jäger came shuffling into the kitchen, mildly surprised to find Eren inspecting all of the potatoes in the fridge. The little boy was told off gently before Mrs Jäger made breakfast for the two of them.

Two weeks have passed since Levi became Eren's imaginary friend and so far he had already fallen into routine with Jägers. Early mornings were the most peaceful part of the day, even if he was woken up abruptly sometimes. After breakfast, Mrs Jäger and Eren would spend time together coloring or practicing to write things so Levi usually stayed out of their way since he was of no use. The afternoons were the most exhausting because Eren would always make Levi play with him. Although Eren was less pushy and controlling than he had been the first time they played, Levi often had to take regular breaks because it was tiring to keep up with the child's desires. Evenings were okay but Levi had to sit through an hour of cringy childrens' shows with Eren before bedtime.

"Mama fheduh ffe aff goiff toof rearn Ingfish fugefar," said Eren through a mouth full of toothpaste after breakfast. He was standing on a little elephant-shaped stool so he could reach the sink. His eyes regarded Levi through the reflection of the mirror, expecting a response.

Levi met Eren's gaze coolly, then arched his eyebrow. "I don't understand Satansbratenese. Speak German, please."

Eren exhaled loudly through his nose then spat the toothpaste in the sink. "I am speaking German." He removed his toothbrush from his mouth and turned around. There was a toothpaste mustache and beard on his face. "Mama said we are going to learn English together," he said.

"Much better."

"Why do we have to learn English?"

"Why didn't you ask her?"

Eren shrugged.

"Anyway, it's good to learn a new language," said Levi.

"Lenggage?"

" _Language_ ," Levi corrected. "It's like that cartoon you watched last night. The one when you didn't understand what they were saying," he explained though couldn't recall the name of the show he was referring to. Something about patrols and dogs?

Fortunately, Eren knew because his face lit up. "Paw Patrol!" he exclaimed. "In Germany, they talked in German. I don't know what they were saying here." There was a pensive expression on his features. "I like it a lot! It's very good!"

"Ehh, yeah, I guess."

"Yay!" Eren pumped his fist in the air but nearly dropped his toothbrush. "Oops! But it's cool! I don't have to read the words on the tv. They're always too fast." He spat out the rest of the remaining toothpaste in his mouth. The faucet on is turned on and Eren watched with delight as the toothpaste-spit mixture dissolved away.

Something about Eren's brushing habits caused Levi's nose to wrinkle. "Wait," he said, nudging Eren's hand to close the faucet.

"What?" Eren frowned at him.

"You need to brush your teeth properly."

"I did."

"Brushing your front teeth only doesn't count," Levi pointed out and Eren's ears turn pink. Somehow there was a toothbrush in Levi's hand. He squeezed out some toothpaste onto his toothbrush and said, "You shouldn't neglect your dental health."

Eren followed Levi's example but he was looking at his friend in bemusement. "Neckleg?" he questioned. "What's neckleg?"

"Neglect," Levi corrected and at the back of his mind, he wondered what was with Eren and mispronouncing things. He raised his toothbrush and Eren did the same. "You angle your brush like this, on the gumline, and gently brush in circle and gradually move downwards." Levi did as he explained.

Eren watched before he replicated Levi's demonstration. His movements are slow and unsure, but it's progress. "Fike fis?" he asked and some toothpaste ended up on the glass of the mirror. Levi wrinkled his nose and wiped the mess off with his fingers.

"Mhm," he hummed and continued with his demo. Fortunately Eren was cooperative today so Levi was satisfied that the boy was following instructions perfectly. Once they were finished brushing their teeth, Levi said, "It's very important to take care of your dental health. Otherwise you'll get cavities."

"What's that?" Eren stepped off his stool.

"Holes in your teeth," Levi explained as he and Eren left the bathroom. "They'll hurt when you eat."

"What if I don't eat?" asked Eren when they stopped by his bedroom to collect Collie. "What if I just eat soup?" he asked once he retrieved his favorite toy, closing the door behind him.

"Eren, you can't just not eat," Levi sighed and followed Eren to the living room to wait for Mrs Jäger. "You get cranky when you're hungry."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Don't."

"Do."

" _Mr Weevi,_ " Levi spoke in a high-pitched tone, making a mockery out of Eren's voice. He plucked Collie out of the child's hand. "Pway wif me or I'll dwaw on youw face!" he continued and held up out of Eren's reach when Eren tried to take it back from him "Weevi, do this! Weevi, do that! I'm a wittle Satansbwaten who only knows how to — Sohn einer Hündin!" He doubled over in pain when Eren punched his gut.

Snatching Collie from Levi, Eren stuck his tongue out and jumped onto the couch. He flexed his arms, laughing triumphantly. "That's what you get for making me sound like that!"

"That's _exactly_ how you sound like!" Levi hissed when he was smacked on the head with Collie. "Was zur Hölle?" he demanded, gray eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Your mouth is dirt! No saying bad words." Eren admonished. "Or else the tooth fairy will steal all your teeth!"

"I say what I want, brat. Also, the tooth fairy doesn't steal teeth."

"What's going on?" said Mrs Jäger, who had just arrived in the living area to find Eren standing on the coffee table—he had hopped from the couch earlier. "Eren, please get down."

"Sorry, Mama." Eren clambered down from the table, red-faced. He ran up to her, with Levi trailing behind him. "I was telling Levi that it's bad to say bad words," he explained as they stepped out of the apartment. He didn't notice the look of concern Mrs Jäger shot him. "But I don't think he wants to listen to me." As they walk to the bus stop near the apartment complex, Mrs Jäger asked Eren to describe what Levi was like. Something about her tone caused unease to stir in Levi's chest. Though he didn't like Eren that much, he was strangely concerned about what Eren's mother thought of him.

Worries began to surface. Would Mrs Jäger disapprove of him being Eren's imaginary friend? Would she tell him to stop talking to Levi? What would happen then? Or what if he'd get fired from this imaginary friend job thingy and banished to Hell?

"He's always cranky," Eren said and Levi had to prevent himself from lunging at the kid. "And he doesn't like to play with me sometimes. But I think he cares about me. This morning he showed me how to brush my teeth properly so I don't get caffies."

" _Cavities_ ," Levi hissed.

"Caffitrees," said Eren, causing Levi to throw his arms up in despair. The boy's shoulders shook slightly with suppressed laughter.

"You mean cavities?" Mrs Jäger asked and Eren nodded. She chuckled and ruffled her son's hair affectionately. "Come on, let's hurry up. The bus should be arriving soon."

 

* * *

 

The ride was short but Levi was relieved when they reached their stop because Eren couldn't stop singing 'The Wheels on The Bus' and getting all the lyrics wrong. If Levi didn't know him any better, he would've assumed Eren wasn't doing it on purpose; after what happened earlier, he didn't bother to correct Eren. No way was he going to let the kid have the satisfaction of annoying him.

Once they hopped off at their stop, Eren reached out to hold Levi's hand with his free one. "Don't get lost," he said, looking at his imaginary friend sternly as though Levi had a habit of disappearing. Levi made a face but let the brat lead him.

It was crowded at the shopping complex today. This would've bothered Levi if he was still alive because he hated it when people breached his personal space. However, by some mystical force or whatever, Levi didn't feel suffocated nor did anyone walk through him as if he was a ghost. If anything, he seemed to be able to pass by others through a comfortable amount of space. The bookstore was on the third floor so they took an escalator up. Levi had to keep reminding Eren to hold the railing and to trying to push his shoe against the brush-thing at the sides. As the brat he always was, Eren ignored Levi but when Mrs Jäger chided him gently, he stopped at once.

"Whoa," Eren breathed when they walked into the store. His eyes were wide with marvel as he took in the sight of the place. The store was had two sections for stationery and books each. The latter was further divided into subsections dedicated for categories like cooking, tech, self-help and more. "Mama, can I have a look around?" he asked, excited by what he was seeing.

"Eren, there's a lot of people," Mrs Jäger responded. "You might get lost."

"I promise I won't get lost. Levi will come with me too." Eren glanced to his imaginary friend, who sighed.

"How about we check out the kids' section?" Levi suggested, spotting it to his left. "And just say we'll stay there so your mom doesn't get worried while she's looking for the books or something."

"Okay," Eren replied then turned to his mother. "Mama, me and Levi will go there." He pointed at the kids' section. "We'll wait for you there."

Mrs Jäger hesitated, eyes traveling to where Eren had pointed. "Alright," she said, "but don't go anywhere else, okay? Otherwise the _gopher-men_ will catch you," she warned. Levi frowned with incomprehension but Eren's eyes widened with fear. His hand cltuched Levi's tightly. It would've been comical if it hadn't been for Eren practically crushing Levi's hand. His features twisted with pain but he refrained from making any complaints until after Eren promised his mother he wouldn't run anywhere and went to the kids' section.

"Eren, my hand," muttered Levi, glaring pointedly at Eren because the child was now pulling his arm so hard he was afraid it might detach from his shoulder.

"No, the _gopher-men_ will catch you if I let you go!" Eren protested dramatically, causing a few heads to turn their direction. Detachedly, Levi wondered if the boy looked a bit crazy since he was supposedly invisible to anyone except Eren.

Levi made a shushing noise and Eren clapped a hand over his mouth. "What in the world is the gopher-man?" demanded Levi, utterly bewildered.

Eren shook his head; he looked around furtively before beckoning to Levi to come closer; it was a useless gesture because he yanked Levi down as well. "They're evil people who steal things from people!" Levi simply stared at him, which caused Eren's nose to wrinkle in annoyance. "They watch you," he explained, voice dropping to a whisper, "and they wait until you're not looking when they take your things away."

Levi scoffed as Eren led him down a bookshelf that was chock-full with fairytale books. "Eren, the gopher-men doesn't exist."

Eren's ears turned pink. "Then what about my socks?"

"Your what?"

"My socks," Eren repeated; he wore perhaps the most distraught expression Levi had ever seen. "They had mice patterns on it. I liked them a lot. But one day they were gone! I don't know where they went but I heard Papa talking about the _gopher-men_ taking things away from people so I think the gopher-men took my socks from me." Levi didn't know whether he should laugh or comfort Eren. He was spared from that decision when Eren held out his hand and tightened it into a fist.

His teal-green eyes shone with conviction. "One day," he said, puffing out his chest, "I'll grow big and strong so I can beat the _gopher-men_. They won't steal things from people ever again." There was a long moment of silence before a strange noise was emitted by Levi. Eren frowned at his imaginary friend, cocking his head to the side when Levi cleared his throat and looked away. "What?" asked Eren.

"You against the _gopher-men_?" said Levi. He coughed and let go of Eren's hand. "Yeah, I look forward to seeing you beat the shit out of those _gopher-men_." Sarcasm laced his tone however it didn't achieve the effect he had hoped because Eren perked up.

"Danke!"

Levi frowned before replying, "Bitte." Since that Eren had calmed down from being paranoid about the gopher-men—whoever they were—the two of them went about browsing books. It amazed Levi how quickly Eren's moods shifted. One moment he was spouting about how he'd defeat the gopher-men the next moment he was absolutely transfixed by a butterfly pop-up book. He even pestered Levi to buy the book for him but when Levi said he hadn't any money, Eren called him a stingy old man. "I really don't!" Levi protested and went about fuming about what Eren had called him.

It didn't take long until Mrs Jäger returned to look for them. In the end, they purchased a few books, including the butterfly book. They went home afterwards, Eren recounting his 'adventure' in the kids' section while Levi counted every exaggerated detail ("You didn't meet a monster there, Eren." There's a sharp nudge. "It's _my_ story so that's how I want to tell it.)

When they reached home, Eren was bursting with energy Levi wondered where he got from. Mrs Jäger left the books on the coffee table so while Eren was in the bathroom, Levi had a look at their titles. One of them was a cookbook while three of them were storybooks Eren had picked out. Out of boredom, Levi played with the pop-up one, admiring the way the colorful butterflies came out of the pages. While pop-up storybooks were a great concept, he thought it was kinda useless because kids would only be interested in the pop-ups instead of the story. He wondered if Eren would bother reading the tiny chunks of text on each page about the butterfly's travel through the garden.

"What are you doing?" said Eren when he found Levi opening and closing the butterfly book idly.

"Just checking." Levi set the book down.

Eren came over to sit next to Levi. "Do you," he began, "want to learn English with me too?" When Levi turned to look at him, he added, "I think you know some but please learn with me?" He wore a pleading expression, the one that Levi knew would win over adults simply by staring at them with huge puppy-dog teal-green eyes. It wasn't like Levi was going to say no anyway; his duty was to ensure Eren was comfortable in any situation. He wasn't going to run away from his responsibilities, even though he did consider it a few times because of how annoying Eren could be.

"Fine," Levi sighed. "But on one condition." He held up a finger and then looked away. "Go and put on some clothes." Eren's face broke into a huge grin as he clambered on the couch to stand on it, beat his fists on his chest while making a Tarzan-like cry. Then, he hopped off the couch, made a face at Levi and ran around the room.

Secondhand embarassment colored the tips of Levi's ears pink as he chased a laughing Eren back to his room whilst swearing like a fiend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sohn einer Hündin : son of a bitch  
> Was zur Hölle : what the hell?!  
> Danke : thanks  
> Bitte : you're welcome


	6. fünf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hi thanks for waiting for the update! i was completely bogged down by exam revisions and uni applications for the past few months so i havent been able to work on this fic as much as i wanted!

“That’s a very sorry excuse of an _A_ you’re writing there,” Levi opined, peering at Eren while the boy practiced how to write. “Follow the dotted lines, will you?” He was unsurprised when Eren stuck his tongue out at him and proceeded to write worse than he did before.

“I’m making my own handwriting,” Eren explained pompously. “And my own language too,” he added and scrawled a terrible-looking B that required Levi to restrain himself from guiding Eren’s hand.

Compared to other mornings, today was rather laid-back. Mrs Jäger assigned Eren to work on his handwriting while she worked on writing an article for some health magazine. As per usual, Levi watched after Eren to offer ‘encouragement’ and make sure he didn’t slack off.

“Oh yeah?” Levi scoffed and shook his head. “That’s wonderful but your language has to wait,” he added; he reached out to guide Eren but the boy slapped his hand away.

“I even made two words for you.” Eren looked at Levi with the most serious expression and he said, “Poophead and Stinkyface.”

Levi’s mouth fell open before he snapped it shut. “That’s lame,” he opined but refused to acknowledge the tiny sting he feels. There was a kernel of truth to the second name though because he was always scowling. “And you’re using German, not —“

“I made those words because that’s what you’re like,” Eren explained though he hardly needed to drive the metaphorical nail home.

“Now, listen here you little Poophead —“ Levi broke off then scowled when he caught himself. To his annoyance, a large grin appeared on Eren’s features. “You little brat.” He made to grab Eren but the boy grabbed his paper and pencil before darting out of Levi’s reach. He chased Eren around the coffee table when he went the opposite way. He managed to seize a giggling Eren by the arm.

“Stinkyface! You’re doing the Stinkyface!” Eren cries in laughter, pointing at Levi’s immense scowl. “You’ll get old faster if you frown like that!”

“Maybe you should think twice about making me mad if you’re _so_ concerned about me looking old.” Levi released him but his face softened a little. The two of them took their previous places at the coffee table and this time, Levi was pleased to see that Eren was cooperating. He even wrote all the letters nicely; Levi was both mildly annoyed and surprised that Eren chose to do that after he successfully baited Levi into playing chase.

From his first day up till the currently, Levi would begrudgingly admit that he had already liked his job of looking after Eren. Sure the little _Rotzbengel_ was a handful at times and he was annoying as he was adorable but Levi was glad that he’d made progress at getting to know the kid better and how to manage. The former was achieved by one too many roleplay sessions and the latter was all thanks to observing Mrs Jäger.

However, progress at helping Eren to adjust was still slow. Despite being the mischievous and playful child he was, Levi noticed he carried emotional baggage with him. A few times he had to comfort Eren about his fears and worries like his father never coming back or the children in the playground not liking him and all sorts of stuff. All of those times occurred at night, Levi noted. He suspected it was because, in the privacy of his own room, Eren could only confide his secrets to Levi.

It did sadden Levi to see him like to witness him like this though, in the deepest parts of his heart, Levi was worried he might not be able to help Eren to cope.

Also, Levi had to deal with all sorts of stupid questions right before bed. He swore if he had to hear that question about —

“Levi!” Just as Levi turned his head, Eren thrust his worksheet into his face but accidentally banged his knuckles into Levi’s forehead. “Oh, no! I’m sorry!” He dropped the paper.

Levi made an impatient noise but remained still. “You should be,” he said. “I could’ve had a concussion.”

Somehow, Eren understood that term—no doubt Mr Jäger’s teaching—because his eyes widened in alarm. He held Levi’s head in place and began to examine his imaginary friend for any visible wounds. It was adorable how seriously he was taking this, Levi had to admit. “What is my name?” Eren asked.

Not missing a chance for cheap revenge, Levi said, “Poophead.”

Eren released Levi with a huge sigh. “Ok, you’re still alright,” he concluded with a satisfied nod of his head. He rapped Levi’s skull with his knuckles, which he shouldn’t have if Levi _did_ suffer a concussion, with a smile. “You have a hard head!” Picking up his worksheet, he skipped over to his mother sitting at the counter in the kitchen and showed off his work.

Levi looked at the bunny calendar hanging on the fridge. According to it, he had about a day left before he was due for a visit from that seraph who looked like his former employer, Erwin. Levi had to provide a verbal report on Eren and Erwin was supposed to give his report of Levi’s progress. It was a necessary, but troublesome, procedure that would take place every two weeks to ensure Levi was actually doing his job although the chances of him slacking off was slim. Even if Levi wasn’t exactly _in_ _love_ with his sentence, he would want it to be over as soon as possible, even thought he had developed a, somewhat paternal, fondness for Eren.

Eren interrupted Levi’s train of thought by smacking his butt. When Levi glared down at him, all he could do was give that angelic smile of his and announces, “Mama says we’ll go to the aquarium later.”

“Okay, but did you have to hit my backside?”

“Yes.” Eren picked Collie up from the floor beside the couch. “Hurry up,” he called over his shoulder, skipping to his room. “We don’t have all day.”

 

* * *

 

“I wanna see sharks!” Eren announced, peering around the foyer of the building. He approached the large full-sized display of what was supposed to be Megalodon’s jaws and poked persistently at the teeth to the chagrin of a nearby security guard. “Where are the sharks?”

“They’re inside, Maüschen,” Mrs Jäger reached for her son’s hand, leading him away before he could kick the display or something.

“They’re waiting for lunch,” Levi said when they joined the line to get their tickets checked behind a group of high-schoolers.

Eren’s eyes widened in curiosity up at him. “What do they eat?”

“Poopheads named Eren.”

A scowl crossed Eren’s features as he elbowed Levi’s thigh, hard. “Poophead is a name for you,” he said. He stuck his tongue out and Levi did the same when they were allowed inside.

It’s been a long while since Levi has set foot in an aquarium so the moment he entered the place, he forgot about teasing Eren about the sharks.

A school of tropical fish swam by curiously in the tall cylindrical tank that the spiral staircase wound around. Jellyfish rippled lazily, seeming to glow in their dark artificial habitats. Rays stuck to the glass overhead in the aqua tunnel. Sea turtles drifted by, unconcerned by the attention they were getting. There was also, for some reason, a croc tank. The marine creatures living here came in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors, which made them so fascinating.

“Where are the sharks?” Eren questioned. Earlier he kept running about here and there to Mrs Jäger’s worry and Levi’s annoyance so as a safety measure, Eren was carried in his mother’s arms.

“It’s over there,” said Levi, pointing in the direction where the tunnel for the sharks’ area was located. “Lucky for you, it’s feeding time,” he adds, glancing down the tunnel to spot an employee in a diver suit in the water.

Eren’s eyes widened with excitement and tapped his mother’s shoulder urgently, cutting her in the middle of an explanation of what the board regarding the ray said. “Levi says it’s over there! And they’re feeding the sharks!”

Mrs Jäger’s expression wavered. Levi wondered if she was worried if watching sharks eat might be a bit too graphic for a five year-old to watch; he could almost see her picturing a great white tearing its prey to bit while Eren watched in horror. “Ah,” she began uncertainly but Eren looked at her pleadingly. “It might be a bit scary for you,” she reasoned.

Eren shook his head. “I’m a big boy!” he announced. “I can watch sharks eat and not be scary.”

“I won’t feel scared,” Mrs Jäger corrected.

“Yeah.” Eren squirmed a bit in her arms and Mrs Jäger put him down but held his hand. They walked towards it, with Levi following behind them. As promised, there was indeed a feeding session ongoing, attracting a crowd to watch the two employees feed the sharks. To Mrs Jäger’s relief, the scene wasn’t as graphic as she had expected. The employees attached food to the end of sticks and fed the sharks from it.

According to the small information card, the sharks were grey reef sharks. They could grow up to two meters long but the ones beyond the glass appear smaller, barely longer than either of the employees feeding them; they were most likely juveniles. However, they were impressive to look at and their graceful movements through the water mesmerizing to watch.

Once the feeding session was over and the crowd applauded the employees, Eren insisted on staying in the tunnel for a bit. His fascination with those marine predators hadn’t worn off and he even asked his mother to translate the information card for him. “You really like these fellas, huh,” Levi commented as Eren pressed his face up to the glass.

“They’re cool!” Eren said, features lighting up when the shark swam by him slowly. He was convinced the shark wanted to be his friend though Levi spoiled the moment by saying it thought Eren would make a delicious snack. “I wanna be a mermaid so I can be friends with them. They won’t eat me if I’m a mermaid, right Mama?”

Mrs Jäger simply chuckled and ruffled her son’s hair affectionately.

“Aren’t mermaids half-human, half-fish?” Levi asked. “That’d make you tastier since you’re — _Depp_ , watch where you put your foot!” he snapped, fighting the urge to wince after Eren stamped on his foot. Levi shook his head when Eren darted away from him, even though Levi wasn’t going to make a move towards him revenge.

Once the novelty of watching sharks swim close has worn off, they leave to visit the dugongs, then the reef zone. The reef zone was the most impressive section of the aquarium, in Levi’s opinion, as it was a large room with seats like those in a theater facing a large tank that had all sorts of fish and other sea life. A blue glow washed over the room, and with the calming music playing from the speakers overhead, it’d had a relaxing atmosphere.

Levi wouldn’t mind spending hours staying here to watch the fish. He sat on the floor next to Eren, who was saying hi to a large yellow fish floating near him. He doesn’t say anything to him, not wanting to break the moment for Eren. Instead Levi watched the way Eren’s face brightened and how delighted he sounded when he had a one-way conversation with the fish.

Fondness spread outwards from Levi’s chest, warming his entire being. It’s moments like these that made the struggles of his job/sentence worth it. As a small smile curved his lips, he released an almost inaudible chuckle. He thought when had he ever became that sap who thought children like Eren weren’t complete devils. When Eren turned to look at him, a question in his eyes, Levi reached to pat his head. “Come on, Eren. Let’s go look for your mother.”

 

* * *

 

Levi hated this empty white room more every time he came here to give reports about Eren. It’s not that he thought he hadn’t been doing his job well but because every time he talked about Eren he felt as though that Bushy Brows was judging him. As far as Levi knew, there probably wasn’t a graph somewhere that tracked the progress of all persons having the same sentence as he was, with him having the least impressive results. However, it didn’t stop him from _thinking_ there was one.

So in the middle of his report on the aquarium trip, Levi cut himself off with an irritable sigh. The seraph hardly reacted, instead arched their ugly eyebrows. “Pardon me for this but — Are you judging me?”

Bushy Brows appeared to hesitate for a moment. “On what basis do you assume I’m judging you on?”

“You always do that thing where you exhale through your nose and you do that little frown — You’re doing it now,” Levi pointed out in exasperation.

“I’ll admit that you’re underperforming,” Bushy Brows acknowledged, “and I had expected more out of you, considering that you were an efficient worker when you were alive.”

“ _Were_ , huh?” Levi’s voice was tinged with bitterness. Even if he was unsurprised that his earlier irrational concern was the real deal, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling pissed with himself too.

“Levi Ackerman could get anything done in record time, even if he had minimal skill for the set task.”

“And your point is?”

Bushy Brows smiled, but to Levi it almost appeared cruel despite the expression bearing no such emotion behind it. “Your sentence is not meant to be an easy one, Ackerman. If that were the case, we’d be shipping everyone off to Elysium like that,” he said with a snap of his fingers for emphasis. “However, you are getting your job done, albeit in a slow and unorthodox manner.”

Levi arched his eyebrow questioningly but he could understand what Bushy Brows was implying. With a slight scowl, he crossed his arms and said, “I’m not the kid’s slave, if that’s what you’re saying I should be.”

To his surprise, Bushy Brows chuckled. “I mean you no offense, Mr Ackerman.” That comment hit Levi with a pang of familiarity because that was what Erwin used to say to him when he was alive. “You’re an interesting fellow,” Bushy Brows continued, “I’d like to see how much you can progress with your method.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depp : idiot


	7. sechs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> even though school ended for me two months ago, i've had a bit of a writer's block and havent been able to get much writing done for this fic. however, i do plan to work on this fic, as well as upcoming ones i have in my drafts, so hopefully i can crank out updates regularly!

Levi returned to the present, feeling like a whole ton of bricks had just dropped on his shoulders to burden. Of course he learned being an imaginary friend wouldn’t be easy but the tone Bushy Brows used made him sound like he was expecting much from Levi. And Levi knew he wasn’t capable of such things. If he was, Eren would be a perfect angel who already integrated among the other kids and he’d be in Heaven having the time of his life. No,  _afterlife_. Whatever.

He was transported back to the corridor of the Jägers’ apartment. Time ran differently between here and the plane of existence he was in earlier so he was aware he won’t be missing much. If anything, he was probably gone for the approximate of five minutes in here.

Brushing himself off, he made his way to Eren’s room. The door was left open as it usually was, but what was unusual was how quiet it was. Eren was not a quiet child. He frowned with a pause in his stride, trying to remember the time. He was certain it was early in the afternoon so Eren couldn’t have been napping. Had the Jägers left during his brief absence? That couldn’t be. He could hear the tv droning in the background from the living room, which indicated Mrs Jäger was there.

Slowly, Levi peered round the doorjamb. Relief washed over him when he saw Eren but a mild expression of confusion appeared. Eren appeared to be awake but he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He was holding Collie but wasn’t playing with it; he usually did if Collie was in his hand and he had nothing to do. 

 _Is he dead?_  Levi wondered with alarm.  _That can’t be good if he is_. He stepped in, causing a loose floorboard to creak. Eren lifted his head and broke into the widest smile, which took Levi aback.

“There you are!” Clambering to his feet, he rushed up to Levi. “I was looking all over you! Even under the couch!” He crossed his arms and pouted accusingly. 

Levi arched his eyebrows. “So you can pester me to play with you?” he guessed. 

“Yes,” answered Eren without a hitch but added, “but also because I missed you.”

“I was gone for five minutes,” Levi deadpanned. “That isn’t long.”

“That’s too long!” Tiny hands enclosed over Levi’s left wrist before he was tugged fully into the room. “I want to show you my drawing.” Making Levi sit on the beanbag, Eren picked up papers from the floor, scattering some crayons he left atop it. He mutters an “Oops” and tiptoed over one before holding it out for him.

“I drew you!” he announced, puffing out his chest with a smug grin. 

Levi narrowed his eyes at the drawing. “Oh,” he said, trying to make sense of the brown object was on the paper. “How nice that you think of me as a piece of … what looks like horse-shit.

Eren gave a tiny start, whirling on Levi with bewilderment before he glanced over at the drawing. “Oh, not that one,” he muttered, ears turning bright red, as he took the poop drawing away. “That’s not horse-poop. That’s chocolate ice cream.” 

“On the floor?” Levi asked incredulously. 

Ignoring Levi’s question, he tapped his finger on the paper. “Look, it’s you!” After giving him the benefit of the doubt, Levi turned his head. 

On the paper, there were four human figures—Levi had to assume they were, even though they were drawn in a misshapen way. One was smaller than the other, with a scribbled brown mess for hair and two green spots for eyes; that was Eren. The tallest one was Mr Jäger, obvious from the round glasses and gray eyes; the one beside Mr Jäger was Mrs Jäger, with her hair drawn in the form of two long lines of brown. And then there was Levi. 

“What are those?” Levi squinted at the pair of diagonal lines sprouting just above the dark gray eyes.

“Your up eye hairs.” Eren pointed at his forehead.

Though bemused, Levi corrected him. “Eyebrows.”

“Yup!” Extending his hand, Eren poked Levi’s eyebrows and said, “They’re always like —“ He used both hands to squish Levi’s forehead into a frown. “—Like this.”

“I’m glad you didn’t leave out the important details. It wouldn’t have looked like me if you did,” replied Levi sarcastically, squinting even more at Eren’s drawing of him. Even though the representation of him was correct—as correct as it can be in a child’s drawing—he was a little annoyed that he looked furious whereas everyone else was smiling, even the yellow sun at the corner of the paper. Heck, he was even drawn with sharp teeth pointing out from his downturned mouth.

“I don’t have sharp teeth.”

Eren blushed. “I thought it’d make you look scarier.” 

Levi wasn’t sure what to make of that but glanced back at Eren’s drawing. While it did appear crudely drawn, and that his face spoiled the drawing, he can tell that Eren put a lot of effort into drawing his family. A jolt passed through him; did Eren consider him a part of the family? Like an official member and not just some imaginary friend? After all, he drew Levi holding hands with him and his family, so Levi had to be part of the family. Somehow, the thought of it made Levi’s chest to fill with an unexpected warmth. 

“Levi?” Eren’s voice snapped Levi out of his thoughts. His green eyes were wide with concern at how quiet Levi became. “You’re making a funny face.” The honest observation caused Levi’s almost-smile to wipe off his face immediately. At that, Eren beamd. “Now you’re back to normal!”

Shaking his head, Levi returned the drawing back to Eren. He was about to ask if Eren would be surprising his parents with it when Mrs Jäger’s head popped round the door. “Mäuschen?” she called softly and her son’s head turned. 

“Yes Mama?” 

“Papa’s online for Skype.”

“Oh!” Eren turned back to Levi, who arched his eyebrows. “Can Levi join us too?” he asked, which caught Levi by surprise. Previously, he didn’t think twice about inviting Levi to sit with them in living room to chat to Mr Jäger, much less give him a second look. Not that he had any protests, since he was practically nonexistent to anyone except Eren and that he’d feel guilty listening in on their conversations. 

As soon as Mrs Jäger says, “Sure he can,” Levi was yanked out of his beanbag and led down the hallway. A stream of halfhearted curses and protests left his mouth but Eren’s grip never wavered, nor did the huge excited grin on his face. 

In the end, Levi’s made to sit next to Eren though he could only imagine, through Mr and Mrs Jäger’s eyes, an empty spot next to Eren, who insists that should be left in view. 

Mrs Jäger’s laptop screen lights up and her husband’s face appeared in view. It might’ve been the lighting but Mr Jäger seemed tired. He had dark circles under his eyes and a somewhat haggard look to his features yet the smile he wore looked lively. 

“Papa!” Eren hopped off the couch and neared the laptop. “Papa, it’s me!” His face was probably taking up the whole of Mr Jäger’s screen. Levi shot him a disapproving look. 

Mr Jäger laughed. “Hello Mäuschen. Please sit down. Mama wants to look at Papa too.”

“Oh, right.” Eren clambered back to the couch. “Can you see Papa now?” he asked Mrs Jäger and Levi, who both nodded, before turning back to the laptop. 

As the Jägers chatted to each other, Levi zoned out of the conversation. There was no need for him to be a part of it and there was no point of listening as well. However, the sight of seeing the family happily talking about their day left a tiny pang in his chest when he remembered how things were like when he was a child. 

Halfway through a conversation regarding the price of fish and Eren’s new toothbrush, Eren remembered he wanted to show Mr Jäger his drawing. He hopped off the couch and dashed to his room, his footsteps fading before returning. 

“Here, I drew everyone!” He showsed the drawing to his parents with a smug grin. “I did it myself!” he announced as if the fact wasn’t obvious. Mrs Jäger laughed, placing a gentle hand on his head before she held it out for her husband to see. 

“That’s wonderful,” Mr Jäger says, which Levi thought was an overstatement. He doesn’t comment it. A small frown appears on Mr Jäger ‘s brow. “But who is the grumpy man next to you?” 

Levi felt his face burn with embarrassment. “That’s me,” he mumbled while Eren answered, “Mr Levi.” Eren glanced back at his imaginary friend, smiling even though Levi was looking at anywhere but him. “He’s my friend, remember?” 

“Oh.” Both Mr and Mrs Jäger exchanged looks. Levi wouldn’t blame them since Eren did draw him terribly; maybe he should help Eren with that, along with improving his shitty handwriting. “That’s how he looks?” asked Mr Jäger after a long pause, sounding doubtful. 

“I swear I don’t look that bad,” Levi sighed. “I don’t even  _have_  sharp teeth!” Eren had the nerve to giggle as his pleas fell on deaf ears; Levi glared at him. 

“Yeah, that’s him!” Eren nodded, reaching for the paper. “He doesn’t always look like an evil person,” he added to Levi’s indignation.

“Hey!” 

“How old is he?” Mrs Jäger asked. 

“Hm.” Levi scowled when Eren regarded him thoughtfully. “Older than me, I think. He’s shorter than Papa … but a little bit taller than Mama.” His attention is back on his parents. “He’s always cranky —“ 

“Because of you,” Levi said.

“—and mean but he’s nice.” Eren didn’t notice the mildly confused expressions on his parents’ features as he proceeded to talk about dinosaurs from the kids’ tv show he watched yesterday. It was amazing how children can be so oblivious. Despite the abrupt change of subject, Levi was glad he was no longer the topic. After a few seconds, he excused himself from the couch.

* * *

“So how old are you?” asks Eren when they were brushing their teeth before bed. His mouth was full of toothpaste foam, some of which flew out when he spoke.

Levi frowned at the mess. “Is it that important?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Eren rinsed his mouth. “I think Mama and Papa wants to know too,” he said then gargled water.

“Now don’t you go pushing it to your parents,” Levi chided, “Admit it if you want to know.” 

“I want to know.”

Levi cleared his mouth of toothpaste and rinsed his mouth. He took his sweet time doing so, pretending to be unaware of Eren’s curious gaze. After he checking his teeth in the reflection, he turned around and left the bathroom. A smirk curled the corner of his mouth upwards when there was an indignant “Hey!” from behind him.

“Tell me!” Eren pleaded, doing the puppy-dog eyes and pout.

“Nope.” Levi nudged Eren inside the room.

“I’ll tell Mama you’re being mean.”

“Tell me what?” asked Mrs Jäger, having heard her son’s futile threat.

“Levi’s being mean,” complained Eren, glaring up at Levi as he clambered onto bed. He struggled a bit when Mrs Jäger helped him up. “He won’t tell me how old he is,” he added as he tucked himself in.

“Boo hoo.” Levi’s voice was monotone but there was a slight hint of playfulness. He sneered when Eren stuck his tongue at him while Mrs Jäger’s back was turned. They went back to looking normal when Mrs Jäger read Eren a bedtime story. It was a classic one, The Little Red Riding Hood, which Eren loved. 

After kissing her son goodnight, she left the room, the door softly clicking shut behind her. Levi counted to five and heard the sheets shifting with movement. He shook his head in amusement, already knowing it was time for stupid questions. From the corner of his eye, he could see Eren peeking out from under his duvet. 

“So,” Eren drawled, sitting up, “will you tell me how old you are?” 

Levi’s gaze crossed over to Eren’s. “Take a fucking guess.” 

A crease appeared on Eren’s brow. “A hundred years old?”

“Seriously?” Levi responded although Eren’s brazen comment left him feeling slightly self-conscious. 

“That’s the biggest number I know.” Eren narrowed his eyes. “Forty-one? Fifty-seven? Eight-two?” Even though he was spouting numbers at random, each of which was met with a shake of Levi’s head, he didn’t seem to lose heart. “Ninety-nine? Twelve.” 

Levi snorted. “You give me too much credit.” 

“What’s credit? Is that the card Papa uses to pay for stuff?”

“Uh,” Levi trailed off. “Anyway, that’s not important. You got it all wrong.” 

“Dang,” Eren muttered. “What?” he asks when Levi frowns disapprovingly. “It’s not as bad as the bad words you say.” Though he has a point, Levi was more concerned about where he learned that from because Levi had never uttered that. Now, if Eren did repeat his cusses at some point, he’d gladly take credit for that.

“Nothing,” he says in the end, “I’m old enough to tell you that you should go to sleep.” When Eren shot him a look of annoyance, he rose from his beanbag with a lofty air and perched at the side of Eren’s bed. “You’ll need your energy tomorrow.”

Eren sighed, cuddling Collie before turning to his back. Levi moved so he can sit and drummed his fingers on his knees. He didn’t realize Eren was watching him until the kid reached out. Eren’s hand looked tiny on top of Levi’s. “I don’t like it when you do that.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t do that.” 

Levi chuckled before gently moving Eren’s hand away. “You’ll learn someday. When you’re older,” he added before Eren could say anything. “It takes practice.”

Eren was silent for awhile that Levi would’ve thought he fell asleep had he not asked, “Will you be there when I’m older?” There’s a knot in Levi’s chest when he recognizes the hopefulness in Eren’s tone. He glanced at Eren, who was regarding him with wide eyes. 

While he used to look forward to the day he’d be free from Eren, Levi wasn’t so sure anymore. Eren wasn’t that bad—well, apart from some incorrigible habits like running naked down the corridors—now that he and Levi were better acquainted. In fact, Levi would almost admit the boy had grown on him, like a cute but annoying weed. 

The knot tightened a little but Levi clicked his tongue in mock annoyance. “Of course,” he said but guilt pinched at him, even if it was just a white lie. “I’ll show you how.” 

“Promise?”

There was a pause. “Promise.” 

Eren beamed in satisfaction. Then he yawned hugely, earning a reminder from Levi to close his mouth. “I think I’ll sleep now. Good night, Levi.” He turned to his side, snuggling deeper into his covers. 

The corners of Levi’s eyes crinkled slightly. “Good night, little one.”


End file.
